Fannin new chairman

Tuesday

Dec 4, 2012 at 10:28 AMDec 4, 2012 at 10:33 AM

Cynthia Grau

After a close vote, a new Livingston County Board chairman and vice chairman took their seats Monday evening.Marty Fannin beat out Tim Shafer and Carolyn Gerwin for board chair and Carl Borngasser was the lone vice chairman nominated. There were two rounds of voting, since there was no clear majority winner after the first round. Gerwin chose to withdraw her name, as she was the low vote getter the first round. Fannin surpassed Shafer 13 to 10, taking over the position. Mike Ingles was absent, thus only 23 board members voted.The lottery for terms also took place. Livingston County Clerk Kristy Masching explained that this takes place every 10 years when all 24 seats are elected at once. That way, half have two-year terms and the other half have four-year terms, so that the terms are once again staggered. Those drawing two-year terms include Kathy Arbogast, Earl Rients, Randy Wittenberg, Fannin, Joan Bullard, Bob Weller, Daryl Holt, Judy Campbell, Borngasser, Stan Weber, John Yoder and Mark Runyon. Those drawing four-year terms were Jack Vietti, Kelly Cochran-Cohlman, Ingles, Carolyn Gerwin, Joe Steichen, Bob Young, Bill Flott, Ron Kestner, Shafer, Paul Ritter, Vicki Allen and William Peterson.Weller was nominated to act as temporary chairman throughout the meeting until a permanent one was chosen, so he introduced Circuit Judge Jennifer Bauknecht to swear in the full board. Masching then did roll call for the new board and eight new members were allowed to address the board and public that had gathered for the meeting.Bullard began for the group.“We are here only as a representative to the people and we need to include the people of Livingston County. At this time I would like to welcome all of our constituents to get involved and come to the committee meetings and the monthly board meetings. We will welcome all questions and comments for everyone to speak freely,” she said.“At the last board meeting, they read the resolutions of appreciation and that made me wonder what people would say about me because inevitably, I will step down from the board one day, too. I would hope that people would say that I worked hard and that I put in the time and that I did justice to the position. I would hope that they said I was a good listener,” Cochran-Cohlman said.“For about 10 years now I have been involved in county board issues from the perspective, mostly, of a citizen. I appreciate that point of view and I also appreciate how hard the work will be that we are going to be asked to do,” Gerwin said.Kestner added, “It’s been 27 years since I sat on the county board. This is sort of like a homecoming. I approach this position again. My goal is to have a good attitude and a helpful attitude. I think we need to establish a rapport with one another and have some goals and work together for the good of the county.”Peterson also remarked, “I want to thank everyone in District 3 that voted for me. I’m here to listen and learn.”“I encourage the constituents to keep me informed on your concerns and together we’ll be able to come up with a solution. The responsibility falls on the board and myself to make difficult decisions in representing the fine citizens. I look forward to working with all the board members on all the tasks at hand,” Rients said.“Livingston County has always been home for me and has always been a special place of mine. I look forward to working with the board and making positive contributions. I’m humbled to be sitting here tonight and I’m thankful for all the people who have confidence that I will make great decisions for our county,” Ritter said.Wittenberg was the last to remark, adding, “It’s a real honor to be able to sit here and be a part of this board. My goal here is to make this a better place for all of us so when we get up every day, we can live in a place that provide living wage jobs for the people that live here and a place we can educate our children.”At the end of the meeting, Administrative Specialist Alina Hartley reminded the new board chair that committee assignments were due today and will be available online at livingstoncountyil.gov.

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